$4000 per marriage?

Hasidic group pays considerable amounts of money to matchmakers who marry off older singles.

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Tzvi Lev, Michael Levy, 09/08/17 09:40

Hasidic wedding (illustrative)

Flash 90

The "Rebbe," or Grand Rabbi of Boyan met with all the local matchmakers Monday, and urged them to male a special effort to marry off the "older singles" in his community.

"Older singes" is a term used for unmarried men over 23, and woman over 21.

The Rebbe promised a $4,000 reward to anyone whose suggestion led to marriage.

A similar initiative was recently adopted by the Belz Hasidic group.

The Center of the Belz institutions made it clear that on instructions from the Rebbe, any matchmaker who successfully matched a young man or woman over the age of twenty in the next six months would receive $1,000.

The Skver Hasidic sect in the United States currently gives matchmakers $3,000 for every marriage they make involving an older single.

Hassidic Jews are expected to marry young, often at 18, and one that does not succeed to finding a match before the age of 23 is often considered 'damaged goods,' making it significantly harder in a community where men and woman are expected to meet through a matchmaker.